Secretary of State Colin Powell was forced to seize command of a TV interview from an overeager press aide yesterday after she tried to cut off his chat with Tim Russert of “Meet the Press”

Powell snapped at Deputy Press Secretary Emily Miller during a satellite interview from Jordan after Miller pushed the camera off her boss’ face near the end of the interview. “Emily, get out of the way. Bring the camera back please,” Powell was heard saying.

A State Department higher-up explained the incident by saying Russert went past his allotted time while other TV networks were waiting with satellite time lined up.